There's a lot to be said for people who are good with kids. Alex is not.

Once the crowd of urchins has dispersed, he looks at his savior, sizing her up in the same way. And literally nobody has called him 'darling' in...thirty years? Thirty years. Comes from being married to your work, and all.

"It would be churlish of me to refuse," he says with a smile. He'll cross the not-actually-drinking-alcohol bridge when they come to it.